This educational document contains a policy update which applies to cloud computing environments from the following vendors (collectively, the ‘Authorized Cloud Environments’):

  • Amazon Web Services
  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
  • Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)
  • Microsoft Azure Platform
  • This policy also applies to these Oracle programs.

 

Discussion to Date

Version 1 has provided a discussion document previously, assessing the impact of Oracle’s Authorized Cloud Policy on AWS and Azure environments. This original whitepaper, “Oracle Authorized Cloud Environments, Overview of Policy Changes”, is still relevant background reading and provides discussion on topics such as :

  • Policy changes
  • Contractual considerations
  • Existing AWS environments
  • Other Cloud Vendors

 

Oracle Workloads in ‘Authorised’ Cloud Environments

This key Oracle document, which provides guidance to customers deploying Oracle workloads in ‘Authorized’ cloud environments, namely AWS EC2/RDS and Azure may be of concern to those considering using either of these cloud providers for Oracle workloads.

Policy Update January 2018 – Licensing on Azure Clarified

The changes issued to the policy document on the 23rd of January 2018 concern deployment on Azure. Oracle have provided clarification on counting of Azure vCPUs and their relationship to hyperthreading. This update is in-line with clarification provided by Azure on the use of hyperthreading in their environments. In summary:

Previously (prior to change on 23 January 2018), Oracle stated that an Azure CPU Core was equivalent to one Oracle Processor license.

Latest update:

            If hyperthreading is enabled, 2 vCPU = 1 Processor license

            If hyperthreading is not enabled, 1 vCPU = 1 Processor license

Therefore, counting license requirements for Azure or AWS EC2/RDS is no different. Although Azure and AWS are now considered equal in the context of Oracle licensing, it is crucial to note that the Oracle core factor of 0.5 is still not applicable in either AWS or Azure environments.

Further Reading

If you would like to view a detailed discussion considering wider cloud licensing implications, Version 1 has made the ‘Oracle Licensing in the Cloud’ whitepaper, which includes topics such as:

 

  • Cloud ‘types’
  • Oracle’s Cloud policy for AWS/Azure
  • Oracle Cloud
  • Non-approved providers
  • Cloud Behaviours
  • SAM process considerations

 

Please contact Version 1 should you have any enquiries about your move to cloud and Oracle software licensing.